The present invention is directed to a sleeve for use in connection with gas bottle post valves.
Gas bottles have a variety of end uses. Such end uses range from various industrial applications, where a specified gas is required (ranging from inert gases such as nitrogen to oxygen gas), to medical uses where oxygen is to be administered to a patient in need of oxygen. Such bottles have a tubular valve stem extending from an end of the gas bottle for engagement with a gas delivery tube or pipe.
To insure the purity of the bottle content, it is important that a dust cover (or protective cover) be employed to cover the value orifice in order to prevent the entry of dust and/or debris therein. It is also important that the dust cover be easy to install, while being retained on the bottle post valve stem during shipment, storage, and handling. It is further important that the dust cover be easy to remove.
Additionally, it is often uncertain if a gas bottle has been used, such that the bottle may be either full or empty. Such uncertainty would be a significant disadvantage in the instance where, for example, the bottle is an oxygen source for a person in need of administration of oxygen to a person in need of being administered oxygen.
A need accordingly exists for a method by which a gas bottle may be modified to clarify whether gas has been delivered by the bottle, or whether the bottle is unused.